Christophe LANGLOIS (first version)

Lucky number Slevin

"Set in New York City, a case of mistaken identity lands Slevin (Josh Hartnett) in the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses: The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat (Bruce Willis) and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them...before they get him."

This movie was a very good surprise: the trailer was quite funny, but I read some poor critics (a bit like the Life of David Gale, with the brilliant Kevin Spacey, which I found excellent)

The cast is impressive (from Bruce Willis to Lucy Liu) and the bad guys "The Rabbi" and "The Boss" are brilliantly played by two of the greatest movie stars.

There is a twist about 30mn before the end: great finish!

Renaissance: congratulations to my friend Marc Miance!

I am really pleased for one of my old friends, Marc Miance.
As far as I can remember (and I met Marc 12 years ago), Marc had always wanted to realize such a movie in 3D.
Marc is one of the most passionate people I know, and highly successful too. Indeed, he is the Founder and President of Attitude Studio.

Marc and his team have been working so hard on the project Renaissance, and I am thrilled to see the movie is going to be released on 15th March 2006 in France!
Marc is credited for the Original Visual Concept: CONGRATULATIONS!

The reviews are extremely positive:
"RENAISSANCE est une merveille d'animation et de cinéma. A ne pas manquer."
Studio ***
"Un des chapitres les plus exaltants de l'histoire de l'animation. Intense et éblouissant."
Ciné Live ***
"Avec ce remarquable thriller d'anticipation en noir et blanc, le cinéma français entre dans une nouvelle ère."
JDD
"RENAISSANCE est un véritable bonheur à regarder parce qu'à la fois vrai film de genre revendiqué et défi technique de tous les instants. (...) Ce film transpire la passion, le courage et le travail."
Mad Movies

BrokeBack Mountain

"An epic love story, set against the sweeping landscapes of Wyoming and Texas, that tells the story of two young men--a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy--who meet in the summer of 1963 while driving cattle on a mountain range. They unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love."

Earlier today, I went to the cinema to see the acclaimed Brokeback Mountain.
This is an excellent movie: the first 45mn, I could not see where the story would take us, and I must admit I was not convinced at all: two cowboys have been hired to take care of a herd of sheeps, and for a couple of weeks an alchemy appears and they become best mates and then lovers. After their assignment, Ennis gets married to a woman, as planned. Then Jack got married himself and both have children...

But after the first 45mn, and after 4 years of separation in the movie, Jack sends a letter to Ennis.

You get to see the two different lifes of two cowboys who felt in love, a forbidden love, especially in the 60's. One would like to live it, the other one tries to convince himself it is not a possibility anyway...

No surprise, the critics are talking about some possible oscars: Ang Lee did a great job as Film Director (the landscapes are fantastic, as they often are in the United States!), and the characters are great: Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Alma (Michelle Williams) are brilliantly played.

Link to one very comprehensive website about Brokeback Moutain: http://www.davecullen.com/brokebackmountain/

1st: Kong, 2nd: Narnia and 3rd: Harry Potter

In December, I saw 3 "blockbusters": Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong.

Despite the good reviews, I was quite disappointed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Indeed, there are too many short cuts, and the actors are not at their best.

I liked The Chronicles of Narnia. This movie is a good entertainement, and the visual effects are excellent: the Lion Aslan is impressive because so charismatic and so realistic. It could have been a fantastic movie if the main characters had had more depth: except from the little girl, you do not get to really like the others. And the transition where Peter is leading the army is not credible to me.

King Kong was excellent! The characters, the actors, and not talking about Kong which is absolutely amazing.The last scene is very emotional, mainly because of Kong, his eyes and the way he moves and protects Naomy Watts.

Howl's moving castle

"Sophie, an average teenage girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-but-mysterious wizard named Howl, and is subsequently turned into a 90-year old woman by the vain and conniving Wicked Witch of the Waste. Embarking on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, she finds refuge in Howl's magical moving castle where she becomes acquainted with Markl, Howl's apprentice, and a hot-headed fire demon named Calcifer. Sophie's love and support comes to have a major impact on Howl, who flies in the face of orders from the palace to become a pawn of war and instead risks his life to help bring peace to the kingdom."

We saw the movie last week-end: first of all, we were surprised not to be able to find any version in Japanese + subtitles in English.

This is another excellent movie from Miyazaki: for a change, it is not really centered on demons and cursed animals. I found it less violent in a way too.

Sophie herself is an unexpected mixture of romantic yearning and hardheaded sensibility, and her age seems to shift with her emotional state. Miyazaky managed again to "create" characters you care for. (He cleverly adapted the book from Diana Wynne Jones)

Fantastic Four: another "so so" movie

"Marvel's first family of comic superheroes takes the world by storm as the longest running comic book series in history comes to the big screen. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, who can elongate his body; Susan Storm/Invisible Woman, who not only can become invisible at will but can render other objects invisible; Johnny Storm/Human Torch, who can shoot fire from his finger tips and bend flame; and Ben Grimm/The Thing, a hideously misshapen monster with superhuman strength, together battle the evil Doctor Doom."

I wasn't expecting much of that movie. As expected, it was lacking of a proper story, and the character of "the evil Doctor Doom" wasn't convicing at all. The accent is really put on the Fantastic Four, and this first movie is very likely to be succeeded by a long series of lucrative sequels.

Madagascar: funny, but mainly for children

"This movie focuses on four residents and "stars" of the Central Park Zoo in New York City who are also best friends: a lion (Stiller), a zebra (Rock), a giraffe (Schwimmer) and a pregnant hippo (Smith). When one of them goes missing, the other three break out of the zoo looking for him, and eventually all four are captured and put in boxes to ship them back to the continent their species are originally from: Africa."

First time I saw the trailers was more than a year ago, on the yahoo.com website. They were hilarious! My expectations were high, expecting another excellent Shriek like movie.
I was disappointed to some extent that all the best part were in the trailers, and the movie was more for children than for adults...

Batman Begins

"Christopher Nolan's film explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He treturns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city."

This Batman is excellent: it is by far darker than the first 2 movies (and I will not even dare to compare it to the no 3 and no 4!), and Christian Bale (Equilibrium, The Machinist) is very convincing. Katie Holmes does not have a great part and the focus is not on the love story between the two of them.
As far as I am concerned, I think Jack Nicholson (the Joker) and Danny deVito (the Penguin) were the 2 best baddies. Liam Neeson's character does not have the same charisma. In top of it, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman bring the touch of humour and are definitely top class actors.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

"The third and final installment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy - the sixth Star Wars movie overall. Anakin Skywalker's turn to the Dark Side of the Force, the continuing Clone Wars and the final fate of the Old Republic should be revealed."

We went to see the movie on Leceister square: you could find a dozen of light sabers and one or two young Darth Vador... :)

This third episode is by far the best of the three new movies: it is darker, the special effects are amazing, and Darth Vador comes to live...

I just do not think that the cast play that well. Moreover, the first 15 minutes are quite funny with a lot of "strange" humour and a useless Obi-Wan Kenobi...

Hitch

A professional matchmaker's program is threatened by a female journalist who enrolls as a student and plans on publishing an exposé on his fradulent methods.